Funding Citizens Advice At Our Hospital Has Helped Families

Families at our hospital often experience huge upheaval when looking after a sick child. They face reduced income, relationship strain, housing problems, transport issues and the need to adapt to new situations. 

Many parents tell us they’re simply unable to leave the hospital to find local advice agencies because of the long wait times and need to keep returning which impacts on time with their child in hospital.

To better support these families, your donations have helped provide funding so Citizens Advice could be on site at both our Women’s and Children’s Hospitals for two days a week each.

One of the families we were able to support at our hospital was Khalda and Bashir. Their daughter, Jawaher, was born prematurely with multiple forms of congenital heart disease, as well as other health complications with her intestines.

Her prognosis at first was very uncertain due to her weight and prematurity. Given the significant problems that she had, Jawaher had a very difficult time recovering from her heart surgery.

She spent over a year in hospital due the complexity of her illnesses and, in that time, her father had to give up work to help care for her. As the family were living in private rented accommodation, this put pressure on their finances and added extra worry for the couple. They were referred to Citizen’s Advice at our hospital, who were able help them apply for universal credit. Having this support meant they were able to focus all their attention on Jawaher.

In 2025, we were able to support over 1,000 people, helping patients and families receive over £320,000 worth of previously unclaimed welfare benefits. We know health is much more than the care we provide, which is why we supported this invaluable initiative.

Watch to hear more from Khalda, as well as Matron, our Citizens Adviser and Mark Hillier, our Patient Experience Manager: